Mental Health Content and Mental Health Outcomes

Depression Clinical Trial

Official title:

Examining the Effects of Mental Health Content on Help-Seeking and Self-Diagnosing Behavior: Cross-sectional Survey Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06440798
• Other study ID #: NUS-IRB-2023-864
• Status: Recruiting
• Start date: January 1, 2024
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: June 2024
• Source: Yale-NUS College
• Contact: Sundarimaa Erdembileg
• Phone: +65 6601 1000
• Email: sundarimaa.e[@]u.yale-nus.edu.sg
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The study will aim to explore the relationship between mental health content on social media and health behavior, addressing a gap in empirical research. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, a survey with over 600 participants will examine associations between exposure to mental health content and behaviors like help-seeking and self-diagnosis.

Description:

Background: Mental health content has recently surged in popularity across social media. However, current empirical research lacks a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between mental health content and health behaviour.

Objective: This study will aim to address this gap by examining different types of mental health content and their relationship to behavior. Specifically, it will explore whether exposure to mental health content will be associated with either positive behaviors, like help-seeking, or maladaptive ones, such as self-diagnosing.

Methods: Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior, a cross-sectional epidemiological survey will be conducted with over 600 participants to answer the research questions. Baseline measures will include participants' exposure to various types of mental health content, and mental well-being (depression, anxiety, and scores from the DASS-21). The outcome measures of interest will be help-seeking attitude (IASMHS) and self-diagnosing (SELF-I) behavior.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 600
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 34 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Enrollment is restricted to healthy adults between 21-34 (or 18-34 for university students)

• Use at least one social media platform (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X)

• Participants need to be able to read and understand English.

• Participants must also have lived in Singapore for at least 2 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Anyone who does not feel comfortable answering questions related to mental health and exposure to mental health-related content online.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Help-Seeking Behavior
• Stress

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Singapore	Yale-NUS	Singapore

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Yale-NUS College

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Singapore, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Help-Seeking Behaviors	Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS). Items were on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("Somewhat Disagree") to 4 ("Agree").	Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Primary	Self-Diagnosing Behaviors for Mental Health	Self-identification as having a Mental Illness (SELF-I) scale. Items were on 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Not true at all) to 5 (Completely True)	Through study completion, an average of 1 year